Franz Joseph Haydn | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Rovi Staff Franz Joseph Haydn is the composer who, more than any other, epitomizes the aims and achievements of the Classical era. Perhaps his most important achievement was that he developed and evolved in countless subtle ways the most influential structural principle in the history of music: his perfection of the set of expectations known as sonata form made an epochal impact. In hundreds of instrumental sonatas, string quartets, and symphonies, Haydn both broke new ground and provided durable models; indeed, he was among the creators of these fundamental genres of classical music. His influence upon later composers is immeasurable; Haydn 's most illustrious pupil, Beethoven , was the direct beneficiary of the elder master's musical imagination, and Haydn 's shadow lurks within (and sometimes looms over) the music of composers like Schubert , Mendelssohn , and Brahms . Part and parcel of Haydn 's formal mastery was his famous sense of humor, his feeling for the unpredictable, elegant twist. In the Symphony No.

94 ("Surprise") (1791), the composer tweaks those audience members who typically fall asleep during slow movements with the sudden, completely unexpected intrusion of a fortissimo chord during a passage of quietude. Haydn 's pictorial sense is much in evidence works like his epic oratorio The Creation (1796-1798), in which images of the cosmos taking shape are thrillingly, movingly portrayed in tones. By one estimate, Haydn produced some 340 hours of music, more than Bach or Handel , Mozart or Beethoven . Few of them lack some unexpected detail or clever solution to a formal problem. Haydn was prolific not just because he was a tireless worker with an inexhaustible musical imagination, but also because of the circumstances of his musical career: he was the last prominent beneficiary of the system of noble patronage that had nourished European musical composition since the Renaissance. Born in the small Austrian village of Rohrau, he became a choirboy at St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna when he was eight. After his voice broke and he was turned out of the choir, he eked out a precarious living as a teenage freelance musician in Vienna.

His fortunes began to turn in the late 1750s as members of Vienna's noble families became aware of his music, and on May 1, 1761, he went to work for the Esterházy family. He remained in their employ for the next 30 years, writing many of his instrumental compositions and operas for performance at their vast summer palace, Esterháza. Musical creativity may often, it is true, meet a tragic end, but Haydn lived long enough to reap the rewards of his own imagination and toil. The Esterházys curtailed their musical activities in 1790, but by that time Haydn was known all over Europe and widely considered the greatest living composer. (He himself deferred to Mozart in that regard, and the friendly competition between the two composers deepened the music of both.) Two trips to London during the 1790s resulted in two sets of six symphonies each (among them the "Surprise" symphony) that remain centerpieces of the orchestral repertoire. Haydn 's final masterpieces included powerful choral works: the Creation and Seasons oratorios and a group of six masses.

Haydn stopped composing in 1803, after which he prefaced his correspondence with a little musical quotation (from one of his part-songs) bearing the text "Gone is all my strength; I am old and weak." He died in Vienna on May 31, 1809. The Creation | work by Haydn | Britannica.com work by Haydn Listen: Haydn, Joseph: The Creation Exerpt from the oratorio The Creation (1798) by Joseph Haydn. The Creation, German Die Schöpfung, oratorio by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn dating from April 1798. It was inspired by Handel ’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, which Haydn had heard while visiting England . In the 1790s Haydn made two extended concert tours to London . Returning from the second of those trips in 1795, he brought with him a libretto telling the Judeo-Christian Creation story as related in John Milton ’s epic poem Paradise Lost (1667).

Haydn agreed with the proposal of his patron, Gottfried, Freiherr (baron) van Swieten, that the piece should be reset in German , a task that the baron undertook personally. Haydn conducted the oratorio’s premiere at Schwarzenberg Palace in Vienna . The first of the oratorio’s three parts begins with “ Representation of Chaos, ” an orchestral prelude that uses stark chords and shifting harmonies to portray the formlessness and disorder that preceded the Creation. The six days of creation occupy the remainder of the first and all of the second part, with each day introduced in recitative by the archangels Raphael ( bass ), Uriel ( tenor ), and Gabriel ( soprano ). Each new creation— light , water , landscapes, plants , and beasts of land and sea and air—is depicted with lavish tone painting. The story of Adam and Eve begins in the third part, with the role of Adam sung by the bass soloist who sang the role of Raphael in the first two parts and the role of Eve sung by the soprano who sang the role of Gabriel.

The oratorio focuses on the happy union between Adam and Eve, culminating in a tender marriage duet; the temptation of Eve and expulsion from the Garden of Eden are only indirectly hinted at in the libretto. Haydn’s Astonishing Oratorio Closes the Mostly Mozart Festival - The New York Times The New York Times Music |Out of Chaos Came Light, and Then Musical Brilliance Search Music | Music Review | 'The Creation' Out of Chaos Came Light, and Then Musical Brilliance Continue reading the main story Haydn had pride of place for the final concert of this summer’s Mostly Mozart Festival . On Friday night Louis Langrée conducted the festival orchestra, the Concert Chorale of New York and three fine vocal soloists in a glowing, urgent and sensitive performance of Haydn’s astonishing oratorio “The Creation.” Haydn was among the composers (Beethoven and Verdi belong in the group) who got better and better over time. He produced his greatest works during his final decade of productivity, the 1790s, including the 12 “London” Symphonies. “The Creation,” composed from 1796 to ’98, is one of the towering works of all time.

Though I pity music lovers who do not know the piece, part of me envies them the experience they have in store. Imagine an oratorio with the awesome intricacy of Bach’s Mass in B minor yet the sublime contentment of Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” and you will have some idea of “The Creation.” Photo "The Creation," conducted by Louis Langrée, at Mostly Mozart. Credit Richard Termine for The New York Times The ovation from the audience at Avery Fisher Hall on Friday went on so long that Mr. Langrée, smiling broadly, waved goodbye to indicate to the audience that it was time to go, though not before acknowledging the hero of the evening, Haydn, by holding up the score to this 90-minute masterpiece. Haydn had to be persuaded to write a major oratorio by Johann Peter Salomon, the impresario who arranged for Haydn’s two extended visits to England in the 1790s. The composer was wary but receptive.

He returned to Vienna in 1795 with a gift from Salomon: an English libretto telling the creation story with texts fashioned from Genesis, the Psalms and Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Back in Vienna, Haydn decided that his knowledge of English was insufficient to set the words properly. His supporter, Gottfried van Swieten, a nobleman and music patron, freely translated the text into German, and it was as “Die Schöpfung” that the work had its sensational 1798 premiere in Vienna. Though the oratorio is heard today more often in German, Mr. Langrée presented it in English translation, honoring the original concept as well as making the piece more immediate for the audience. Photo Louis Langrée conducting Haydns Creation at Avery Fisher Hall with, from left, the soloists Peter Rose, Carolyn Sampson and Matthew Polenzani.

Credit Richard Termine for The New York Times “The Creation” opens with an orchestral prelude, “Representation of Chaos.” In the beginning, the text states, “the earth was without form, and void.” The orchestra depicts that formlessness through elusive harmonies, melodic fragments and eerie instrumental effects. Throughout the performance Mr. Langrée focused on the big-picture components of this demanding score. There was so much character, inventiveness and vibrancy in the playing that little slip-ups hardly mattered. Haydn proved himself a master at tone-painting here. During the first halting choral episode, when the choristers relate God’s words “Let there be light,” Mr. Langrée held the music almost in suspended animation. Then, on the final word of the understated phrase “And there was light,” the chorus and orchestra, pulling off the effect perfectly, burst into the shimmering, organic sustained C-major chord that Haydn composed to depict this miracle. The narration in “The Creation” is given to three solo singers portraying archangels. The excellent bass Peter Rose brought a stentorian voice and complete authority to his singing as Raphael.

The soprano Carolyn Sampson, as Gabriel, sang with lovely sound and angelic grace, although her work lacked dramatic urgency. The tenor Matthew Polenzani was ideal as Uriel, singing with sweet tone, lyrical ardor and impeccable diction. During the dramatic recitative when Uriel explains that God created the sun as a giant, proud and “happy spouse” to the earth, and a “silver moon” with “softer beams and milder light” to go along, Mr. Polenzani was an awestruck storyteller. In the joyous choruses that dot the work Mr. Langrée and the impressive Concert Chorale of New York, ably prepared by the director James Bagwell, captured the operatic dynamism of the music. The Haydn who wrote this piece was clearly affected by Mozart’s “Magic Flute.” During the rousing final chorus, “The Lord is great,” which breaks into an ingenious fugue, you could tell how excited Mr. Langrée, his soloists and choristers were to be performing this music. Who wouldn’t be?

A version of this review appears in print on , on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Out of Chaos Came Light, and Then Musical Brilliance. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Haydn: The Genius Who Wrote the Trumpet Concerto Haydn: The Genius Who Wrote the Trumpet Concerto by DavidPaulWagner The Austrian composer, Joseph Haydn (nicknamed "Papa" Haydn), never seems to have stopped working. He produced 104 symphonies, 84 string quartets, and much more. Many classical music lovers first discover Haydn through his oratorios, such as "The Creation" and "The Seasons", and through his symphonies, such as the "Farewell" and the "Surprise". Haydn is credited with having created the form of the modern symphony and the modern string quartet -- but, equally important for us, Haydn's music is simply enjoyable to listen to! Haydn's Life Franz Joseph Haydn (normally known as Joseph Haydn) was an Austrian composer of classical music, who is often referred to as the "Father of the Symphony" and the "Father of the String Quartet".

Born in 1732 into a large family in Rohrau, Austria (he was the second of twelve children), he spent nine years at the Cathedral Choir School of St. Stephens, Vienna. From 1749 he lived a precarious life, earning his keep by teaching music, by playing in street orchestras and for a time working as valet-accompanist for the Italian composer, Nicola Porpora. During this period he taught himself to compose music (partly by study the works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach). In the years 1759-60 Haydn worked for Count von Morzin as Kapellmeister (music director) of the Count's court musicians. He directed the orchestra and wrote his earliest symphonies. In 1761 Haydn entered the service of the wealthy aristocratic Esterhazy family. He was their court musician and musical director and he was to remain in their service for many years -- until 1790.

He lived on the remote Esterhazy estates (first at their castle in Eisenstadt and then at a new palace in rural Hungary) and, thus isolated from most of the composers and musical trends of his time, Haydn was, as he admitted, "forced to become original". During the almost thirty years that spent with the Esterhazys, who were musical conoisseurs and very supportive of Haydn, the composer produced a vast number of works (by 1790 he had completed more than 70 symphonies and 50 sonatas for the piano, as well as works for the baryton, string quartets, operas and church music). His style developed and he developed an international reputation. From 1784 Haydn mentored Mozart, who learned much about the symphonic form from Haydn. In return the latter was highly impressed by Mozart's compositions. In 1790 Haydn made the first of two highly successful visits to London, responding to an offer from the German impresario, J. P. Salamon, to come and conduct there.

Apart from putting on very successful concerts there, he composed a number of important works in this period, such as the "Surprise" and the "London" symphonies. In 1790 Haydn met Beethoven in London. Later, Beethoven was for a time a pupil of Haydn. Haydn spent his final years in Vienna. During this period he composed two wonderful oratorios, "The Creation" (1798) and "The Seasons" (1801), as well as six important masses, including his Mass in D minor ("The Nelson") (1798). Ivo Pogorelich Plays Haydn's Piano Sonata No.46 The Musical Works of Haydn Highlights of Haydn's music works include: Symphonies (104 in all) Opera Today : The English Oratorio: A Celebration (Barbican Hall, London) Above: Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy (1792) [Source: Wikipedia] Send to a Friend Inspired by imaginative genius and, at times, financial necessity, Handel created musical forms, including the English-language oratorio, which have remained at the heart of English musical life ever since.

His works garnered extraordinary acclaim in his own day, and continued to exert an enormous influence on the musical history of his chosen country of residence long after his death, In the 1730s and 1740s, as London audiences’ fickle taste for Italianate opera seria waned, and wearied by the continual political intrigues of the capital’s theatrical life, Handel turned his attention to another creative outlet and source of income; realising the possibilities offered by large un-staged dramatic works, by the 1740s the oratorio had completely replaced opera in his output. Skilfully combining elements taken from Italian opera and oratorio, the English anthem and other genres, Handel produced a uniquely ‘English’ musico-dramatic form, one which has since inspired many composers, both native and foreign. The Barbican Hall’s six-month series celebrating the English oratorio continues in 2012 with a varied array of works of contrasting styles and intent, performed by illustrious English orchestras, conductors and soloists.

Today, compared with the box office popularity of Mozart and Beethoven, it is common to dismiss Haydn as — to coin Charles Rosen phrase — a ‘connoisseurs’ composer’, but, as Rosen points out, to do so is to overlook Haydn’s enormous popular success during the 1790s, a decade which witnessed an immense outburst of musical creativity in a deliberately popular style. It is to this decade that both of Haydn’s major oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons, belong. The latter’s numerous allusions to Haydn’s ‘back catalogue’ — such as the quotation from that perennial audience favourite, the Surprise Symphony, in the fourth number — reveal the composer’s shrewd commercial and musical instincts. The Seasons sets texts by the early Romantic nature poet, James Thompson, poems which enable the composer to indulge in his beloved pastoral idiom. The work is characterised by wonderfully evocative tone-painting which explicitly points the sentiments of the text with particularity and dramatic inventiveness; surprising modulations and unexpected dynamic accents provide deliberately theatrical flourishes.

As the title suggests, the oratorio depicts the passing of the year, but it is more than a pictorial portrait; Haydn’s musical idiom, at times surprisingly simple, even naïve, expresses not only his wonder at the beauty of the natural world, but also reveals a sincere exploration and depiction of man’s relationship to Nature. It is a true coup de théâtre, presenting before us the entire universe as Haydn and his contemporaries new it. Following his recent award-winning recording of Haydn’s other late oratorio, The Creation, conductor Paul McCreesh now leads some of the same performers, including his renowned period ensemble the Gabrieli Consort, in a performance of this work of infinite beauty, grace and insight. The son of an aristocratic family of assimilated Jews, Mendelssohn was baptised and raised as a Protestant and lived as a devout Christian. His preoccupation with works of a religious nature was thus a natural outgrowth of his faith; but, when his interests in the Baroque oratorio tradition and, more particularly, in the revival of the Passions of J.S. Bach combined with nineteenth-century taste for theatrical melodrama, the result was a thrilling Biblical epic, Elijah.

Though compositional sketching commenced in 1837-8, the oratorio might, like Mendelssohn’s third oratorio, Christus, have remained unfinished had it not been for a contract in September 1845 from the Committee of the Birmingham Music Festival to conduct the 1846 Festival, which offered him the opportunity to present a major new composition. According to one eye witness, the work was finished only 9 days before the Festival. Premiered on 26 August, by an orchestra of 125 players and a chorus comprising 271 singers, it was a sensational success: audiences demanded that four arias and four choruses be immediately repeated.

Mendelssohn himself was clearly overwhelmed by the occasion, later recording: “A young English tenor [Charles Lockey] sang the last aria so beautifully I was obliged to exercise great self-control in order not to be affected, and to beat time steadily.” Andreas Delf will conduct the Britten Sinfonia and Chorus in a performance show-casing some of the finest contemporary British voices: joining experienced baritone Simon Keenlyside and alto Catherine Wyn-Rogers are young singers at their forefront of a new generation of acclaimed performers, soprano Lucy Crowe and tenor Andrew Kennedy. It was the first performance of Tippett’s A Child of our Time, on 19th March 1944, in a concert promoted by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Region Civil Defence and Morley College Choirs — conducted by William Goehr, with soloists Joan Cross, Margaret McArthur, Peter Pears and Rogerick Lloyd –that brought Michael Tippett’s name before a wider public. Tippett’s oratorio characteristically embodies a considered philosophy of music’s nature and function.

In November 1938 Herschel Grynsbaum, a 17-year Polish Jew, assassinated a minor Nazi diplomat in retaliation for the persecution of his parents; the boy was imprisoned and disappeared, and the Nazis retaliated with a savage pogrom. Initially Tippett asked T.S. Eliot to write the libretto, but the poet suggested that as his own response might be too obviously ‘poetic’, the composer might be better advised to produce his own text. Tippett’s emotional response to Grynsbaum’s fate, and to that of all European Jews in the ensuing war, was typical in its desire to express both the horror of man’s inhumanity to man and the assurance of compassion and peace — the light and shadow within us all. The three-part form of the oratorio was modelled on Handel’s Messiah, but the masterstroke was the inclusion of Negro Spirituals at crucial emotional and dramatic highpoints.

Tippett thereby created for himself the problem of integrating the language of these spirituals with his own style, one of highly sophisticated European sensibility; he reduced the spirituals to a simple minor triad with added 7th, using them as an imaginative substitute for the Lutheran chorale, and based his own music on this core triad, thereby overcoming the apparent incompatibility of styles. There is not merely juxtaposition but true integration, as taught musical arguments combine with naturally expansive lyricism. Thus, in ‘Nobody knows’, the opening, immediately recognisable melodic quotation is treated contrapuntally and with the irregular accentuation that is consistent with Tippett’s own musical language. Similarly, the alto solo ‘The soul of man’ is derived melodically and rhythmically from the spiritual, but is also distinctively personal particularly with regard to the natural declamation of the text. Tippett’s work explores elemental questions which retain their power to urge us to reflect on the relationship between individual human actions and universal catastrophes. At the Barbican Hall in March, Sir Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony and Chorus, in a performance of this great work, which has been described as “an impassioned protest against the conditions which make persecution possible”.

Setting a poem by Cardinal Newman, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius depicts an ordinary man on the point of death, facing his judgement before God. Elgar found in Newman’s poetry a subject of both private and universal significance: Gerontius’s predicament touched the composer’s own anxieties, and these doubts ring through the painful chromaticism of Part 1 as forcefully as the vision of eternity offered in the more affirmative Part 2. Derived from a close network of musical motifs, the music is shaped in wide arches and moves swiftly and dramatically through the text, the harmonies changing rapidly as the orchestra shares the expressive responsibility with the choral voices. Widely considered one of the composer’s greatest works, The Dream of Gerontius was, like Mendelssohn’s Elijah, commissioned by Birmingham Music Festival, and it was first performed at Birmingham Town Hall. It is thus fitting that in April Andris Nelson will conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and soloists Toby Spence, Sarah Connolly and James Rutherford in a performance of this deeply moving work, which combines religious fervour with human passion.

It might be argued that Handel’s Messiah has influenced British musical life more than any other single composition; Handel’s feeling for the English language was perhaps as fine as that of Shakespeare, and it was this musical power of expression to which the composers who followed in his footsteps aspired. In so doing, they created a musical and dramatic heritage which is gloriously celebrated in this exciting series at the Barbican Hall. Claire Seymour Haydn: The Creation - Durham Singers - Chamber Choir Haydn: The Creation 21 November 2015, 7.30pm, Durham Cathedral Musical Director: Julian Wright ​and soloists from Samling Academy Clare Tunney (soprano): Gabriel Ana Fernandez Guerra (soprano): Eve James Quitmann (bass): Adam Orchestra - The Durham Singers Ensemble Violin 1 Francesca Massey School partnership As part of our outreach programme, we took Haydn's music into local primary schools, where the children worked on art projects inspired by Creation and learnt some of the music to sing with us during our afternoon rehearsal.

One of the highlights of the day was hearing them explaining to us the differences between recitatives, arias and choruses, and singing "The Heavens are telling" with such joy. The slideshow above shows the globes they made, and you can read more about the project here: Read more Programme Note: Celebrating Creation Haydn’s oratorio The Creation was one of the first truly international masterpieces. It was always Haydn’s intention to give the work to an Austrian audience as well as an English one – but rapidly it was being performed all over Europe. Later, in the nineteenth century, it fell out of favour in some circles. Perhaps the pictorial sound-imagery came across as a little obvious, a little ‘Disney’ one might say nowadays, for later audiences more excited by abstract romantic themes. But in the late 1790s, Haydn’s musical story of the making of the world, told through the medium of three soloists representing angels, placing humans at the heart of the story with Adam and Eve, with a chorus that celebrated each episode in songs of praise that drew on well-known psalms, and with genuinely inventive and colourful use of the orchestra, transfixed Europe’s imagination.

Europe’s most admired composer found his work taken up with unprecedented delight and enthusiasm. The rush to perform the work in 1798–1800 causes complex issues for performers today, notably in choosing which language, and which edition, to perform. The text we sing tonight reproduces the precise English phrasing that Haydn set. This text has often been seen as an awkward paraphrase of the German. The English libretto dates from the 1740s, and Haydn acquired it on one of his visits to England (several other English creation librettos, drawing on Milton, were produced in the 1740s and 50s). Having been blown away by a huge staging of Messiah in Westminster Abbey, Haydn wanted to do something similarly grand and was excited to have a text from a writer who had known Handel. Neil Jenkins suggests that the author of the English text was probably Jennens, who wrote the text for Messiah. Jennens was deeply familiar with Milton’s creation narrative, and with Shakespeare, which explains many old-fashioned turns in the text.

While, in Handel’s day, a libretto such as this might have been tweaked and developed, with English musicians on hand to comment, when Haydn took it home he and his colleague van Swieten had to do what they could to adapt Jennens’ text as non-native speakers. But the sometimes archaic imagery points back to images of the natural world in eighteenth-century English poetry, in Milton and in Shakespeare himself. The story as it is told in the oratorio draws on an even older tradition: celebrating the creation of an ordered universe was vital in medieval theology. We hear this at the very beginning, when after the chromaticism and drama of the ‘Representation of Chaos’, light hits us with a blazing perfect cadence in C major, the orchestra playing without mutes for the first time in the oratorio. C major sounded especially clear to eighteenth-century ears – it is the key of the stars in ‘The heavens are telling’, and of Adam and Eve’s song of praise. But the cadence itself describes harmony imposed on chaos.

Here is a world in which a sub-atomic ‘soup’ has been transformed into working physical forces, giving light and – following Milton – banishing the demons, who fall out of heaven in the opening tenor aria and chorus. Our orchestra tonight is smaller than some of those used by Haydn, though it employs all the instruments he chose. Size of orchestra varied in the eighteenth century. Smaller forces worked well in the echoing marble palaces of Vienna, and a contemporary critic insisted his favourite performance of The Creation was one played by a small string ensemble. Conversely, by the 1790s, ‘monster’ performances of Messiah were becoming regular in London, with over two hundred performers. Mozart loved working with large string sections when he had the chance. Haydn was attracted by big effects, and that is why the bass trombone and contra-bassoon are so important in The Creation; their parts were added to underpin music that was supposed to have impact. The piece could live with different acoustics.

It brought together the compositional skills of an exceptional symphonist as well as a very experienced opera composer, a master of the string quartet who was exploring the combination of choir and orchestra as a new musical force for the future. The instrumentalists we have invited to Durham for this performance are specialists on instruments that reproduce the timbres and sound quality of instruments from Haydn’s day. The overall balance of a ‘period’ orchestra such as this is excellent for a chamber choir. Trumpets and trombones are quieter than modern brass and thus the big effects in the wind section can be heard evenly balanced across the orchestra. The flavours of the woodwind are more developed, but they also blend as an ensemble in a quite unique way – you can hear real eighteenth-century ‘wind band’ music, straight from the aristocratic court bands of Vienna, especially in the trio in the final chorus of Part 2. The style that comes naturally when string players use replica bows and violins is also, we hope, an inspiration to chorus and soloists to sing with life and plenty of attention to the lively consonants of the text. This work brings to life vivid images of our world and the exquisite balance and harmony that hold it together.

If the beautiful overture to Part 3, depicting life unfolding in the Garden of Eden, doesn’t remind us of how delicate that balance is, and how carefully it needs looking after, I don’t know what will. This term, six schools around County Durham have been exploring the way music and visual art intersect in Haydn’s oratorio, through mosaics led by the local artists Amanda Cuskin and Angela Tomlinson. The schools involved also gave their younger children a chance to sing with us this afternoon, in an informal performance of Part 1 as part of our full rehearsal. This most lively piece of music commands our attention two hundred years later as vividly as it did in 1798 and will, we hope, inspire new generations of musicians in the future.

Create a free website Powered by Durham Singers is a registered charity: 518274 / Tel: 0191 386 6130 (general enquiries) or 0779 0148062 (tickets and publicity) ✕ Program Notes - May 11, 2013 | Symphony in C Symphony in C Program Notes - May 11, 2013 Franz Joseph Haydn Born on 31 March, 1732 Died on 31 May, 1809 The Creation, (H. XXI/2) Noted Haydn scholar H. C. Robbins Landon wrote that the story of Joseph Haydn’s life is one that he himself thought would be of little interest to anyone but his reputation 204 years after his death has proven to be unequivocally the opposite: a prolific and humble composer whose musical genius is nothing short of astonishing. Haydn’s oratorio The Creation was composed in Vienna over a two-year period from 1796 to 1798. Haydn had just returned to Vienna in 1795 after his second successful visit to England.

Vienna was to become his principal place of residence until his death in 1809. Haydn’s new patron, Prince Nicholas II Esterházy, preferred living in Vienna unlike his predecessor, Nicholas I. The relationship between Nicholas II and Haydn was at first strained and antithetical, unlike the one he had enjoyed with Nicholas I. Nicholas II was not only unmusical, unlike his brother, but was also a difficult and unsympathetic man. There is evidence that there were a number of unpleasant episodes between the two. Nevertheless, Haydn was able to transcend his employer relationships as the right person in the right place at the right time. Vienna was a major center for music and a leading cosmopolitan city in Europe thanks to the reforms of Emperor Joseph II (the enlightened Emperor). Under Joseph II, Vienna had become an imperial seat and administrative center as well as a center of finance and trade. Josephine reforms allowed the emerging middle class to gain wealth and influence. The nobility continued to exist but was divided into two socio-economic classes: the first aristocracy (nobility through heredity) and the second aristocracy (essentially upper-middle class whose titles were earned).

Both of these classes were instrumental for The Creation to have been composed by Haydn. Cultural life in Vienna depended on the financial generosity of all nobility, whether as salon hosts, patrons, or participating dilettantes. By the 1790s the role of the nobility in fostering the salon culture had expanded considerably as the role of the court was slowly waning. Freemasonry continued to be a vital part of Vienna’s intellectual and cultural life. After 1795, however, it was forced to operate in secrecy. Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, eliminated all secret societies, including the Masons. Haydn joined Vienna’s “True Concord” lodge in 1785. The lodge’s membership had a unique focus on literature, science, and moral instruction. Scholars believe that Masonic attitudes and ideals contributed to Haydn’s compositional approach after his membership in 1785. There are several Masonic strands in The Creation, in its treatment of God as chief architect and the importance of love among all human beings. Haydn had found financial success from his commissions, published compositions, and performances in his old age, which was the exception among musicians.

Artists and musicians were typically from the lowest and poorest end of the class spectrum. The Creation is likely the most famous of his commissions from the nobility. The inspiration for The Creation came from the oratorios of Handel that Haydn had heard during his two visits to London in 1791–92 and 1794–95. An oratorio is an extended musical composition for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, like an opera, but with a text based on a religious theme and performed without action, costume, or scenery. Just before leaving England, Haydn’s friend and manager, John Peter Salomon, had given him a handwritten libretto (now lost) entitled The Creation of the World, which may have been intended for Handel but was never composed. On his return to Vienna Haydn gave the libretto to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, one of his patrons and supporters, who translated and adapted the libretto in such a way that the German and English texts would fit the same music (perhaps the first original bilingual composition). The first performance took place at the Palais Schwarzenberg, Vienna, on April 29, 1798.

Swedish diplomat Frederik Samuel Silverstolpe reported on the work’s first rehearsal and premiere performance: This work was first given on 29 April 1798. I was among the audience, and a few days beforehand I had attended the first rehearsal. At the latter Haydn was surprised afterwards by a present. Prince Schwarzenberg, in whose rooms the work was prepared and later also performed, was so utterly enchanted by the many beauties of the work that he presented the composer with a roll containing one hundred ducats, over and above the 500 that were part of the agreement. – No one, not even Baron van Swieten, had seen the page of the score wherein the birth of light is described. That was the only passage of the work which Haydn had kept hidden. I think I see his face even now, as this part sounded in the orchestra. Haydn had the expression of someone who is thinking of biting his lips, either to hide his embarrassment or to conceal a secret. And in that moment when light broke out for the first time, one would have said that rays darted from the composer’s burning eyes.

The enchantment of the electrified Viennese was so general that the orchestra could not proceed for some minutes. The first public performance took place on March 19, 1799, at the Burgtheater. The work was an instant success and subsequently performed at many charity performances with Haydn conducting. Haydn published the work himself and sold it by subscription all over Europe. His advertisement in June 1799 reads: The success which my Oratorio The Creation has been fortunate enough to enjoy... [has] induced me to arrange for its dissemination myself. Thus the work will appear... neatly and correctly engraved and printed on good paper, with German and English texts; and in full score, so that [at least] one work of my composition will be available to the public in its entirety, and the connoisseur will be in a position to see it as a whole and to judge it. The text of The Creation has three sources: Genesis, the Biblical book of Psalms, and John Milton’s Genesis epic Paradise Lost.

The work is set for three vocal soloists (soprano, tenor, and bass, with an incidental solo for alto in the finale), four-part chorus (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), and a large Classical orchestra consisting of 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, alto, tenor, and bass trombones, timpani, and typical string sections of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. For the recitatives a harpsichord or fortepiano is also used. The three soloists represent angels who narrate and comment on the successive six days of creation: Gabriel (soprano), Uriel (tenor), and Raphael (bass). In Part III, the role of Adam is usually sung by the same soloist as sings Raphael, and the roles of Gabriel and Eve are also taken by the same singer. The Creation is written in three parts the musical numbers of which are given below.

As in other oratorios, the larger musical numbers (arias and choruses) are often prefaced with a brief recitative; here, the recitative gives the actual words of Genesis, while the following number elaborates the bare Biblical narrative in verse. Part I celebrates the creation of the primal light, the Earth, the heavenly bodies, bodies of water, weather, and plant life. Introduction: The Representation of Chaos A famous number in the work, an overture in C minor in slow tempo, is written in sonata-allegro form. Here, Haydn depicts Chaos by withholding musical cadences from the ends of phrases. 1. Accompanied Recitative (Uriel): In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. The movement begins with a recitative for bass solo in C minor, followed by choral presentation of the creation of light. The latter is depicted first with a soft pizzicato note from the strings, followed by a sudden surprise fortissimo C major chord on the word Light. Following the appearance of light is a brief tenor recitative on the words "and God saw the light, that it was good," leading into: 2.

Air (Uriel): Now vanish before the holy beams Aria for tenor with chorus, in A major, portraying the defeat of Satan’s host, from Paradise Lost. The Second Day 3. Recitative (Raphael): And God made the firmament, and divided the waters A long recitative for bass in C major, with orchestral tone painting, describing the division of the waters from the land and the first storms. 4. Solo (Gabriel): The marv'lous work beholds amazed/The glorious hierarchy of heav'n. A Soprano solo with chorus in C major. The heavenly hosts praise God and the work of the second day. The Third Day 5. Recitative (Raphael): And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered unto one place 6. Air (Raphael): Rolling in foaming billows. Aria in D minor for bass, narrating the creation of seas, mountains, rivers, and (a coda in D major) brooks. 7. Recitative (Gabriel): And God said, Let all the earth bring forth grass 8. Air (Gabriel): With verdure clad the fields appear.

Solo aria in B-flat major for soprano, in siciliana rhythm (pastoral mood, dotted rhythms), celebrating the creation of plants. 9. Recitative (Uriel): And the Heavenly host proclaimed the third day 10. Chorus: Awake the harp, the lyre awake! A chorus celebrating the third day, with four-part fugue on the words "For he the heavens and earth has clothed in stately dress." The Fourth Day 11. Recitative (Uriel): And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night 12. Accompanied Recitative (Uriel): In splendor bright is rising now/the sun, and darts his rays. With tenor narration, the orchestra portrays a brilliant sunrise, then a languid moonrise. 13. Chorus: The heavens are telling the glory of God. The text is based on Psalm 19:1–3, which had been set by Bach as the opening chorus of his cantata Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76.

"Die Himmel erzählen" is not in the home key of Part I, C minor, but is instead in C major, depicting the triumph of light over dark. It begins with alternation between celebratory choral passages and more meditative sequences from the three vocal soloists, followed by a choral fugue on the words "The firmament displays the wonder of his works," then a final homophonic section. The unusual intensity of the ending may be the result of Haydn's piling of coda upon coda, each occurring at a point where the music seems about to end. The Fifth Day oratorio | music | Britannica.com Oratorio choral music Oratorio, a large-scale musical composition on a sacred or semisacred subject, for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra . An oratorio’s text is usually based on scripture, and the narration necessary to move from scene to scene is supplied by recitatives sung by various voices to prepare the way for airs and choruses. A basically dramatic method is used in all successful oratorios, though they may or may not be produced with theatrical action. The oratorio is not intended for liturgical use, and it may be performed in both churches and concert halls.

The principal schools of oratorios are the Italian, essentially a form of religious opera; the German, developed from treatment of the Passion story; and the English, synthesized by the composer George Frideric Handel from several forms. The term oratorio derives from the oratory of the Roman church in which, in the mid-16th century, St. Philip Neri instituted moral musical entertainments, which were divided by a sermon, hence the two-act form common in early Italian oratorio. The golden age of oratorio: 1600–c. 1750 The earliest surviving oratorio is Rappresentazione di anima et di corpo ( The Representation of Soul and Body ) by Emilio del Cavaliere , produced in 1600 with dramatic action, including ballet. Toward the mid-17th century Giacomo Carissimi introduced a more sober type with a Latin text based on the Old Testament . His oratorios (some short, some longer) are simple and free from extravagance and make effective use of the chorus. Their style is basically operatic, though, and the most memorable episodes are those in which the narrative is interrupted and the characters express their emotions.

Latin- and Italian-language types of oratorios continued in use, but the vernacular Italian oratorio volgare, sung by virtuoso singers, was more popular and flourished until the late 18th century. Stage action had been abandoned in the oratorios of Italy by the late 18th century. The French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier , who studied with Carissimi, successfully transferred the Italian oratorio to France. Similar Topics Pulitzer Prize The German oratorio began with Heinrich Schütz , a composer whose style is a blend of German and Italian elements. His oratorios, confined to Gospel subjects, show great powers of emotional expression and anticipate those of Johann Sebastian Bach in their vigorous treatment of the choruses. In his Easter Oratorio (published 1623) Schütz retains the old convention of setting the words of each character for two or more voices. His oratorios achieve a balance between austerity and exuberance, but by the late 17th century this balance had been disturbed.

Passion oratorio texts (dealing with the death of Jesus) of this period often abandon biblical words for a mixture of rhymed paraphrase and lyrical commentary of a more or less sentimental nature. Listen: Bach, J.S.: St. John Passion, BWV 245 The aria “Lasset uns den nicht Zerteilen” from J.S. Bach’s St. … J.S. Bach ’s two great Passion oratorios, the Passion According to St. John (first performed 1724) and the Passion According to St. Matthew (1729), restored the balance attained by Schütz, though they are written on a greater scale and are enriched by the introduction of the later Italian aria . Bach, besides increasing the significance of the chorale , or congregational hymn , used the evangelist’s narrative as a framework for binding the dramatic element (the words of the characters) to the epic and contemplative sections (arias, chorales, opening and final choruses). There is nothing novel about Bach’s settings except their genius, which holds the long and complex structure in perfect balance.

The Christmas Oratorio and other works by Bach that bear the name oratorio are more properly church cantatas. G.F. Handel ’s oratorios are essentially theatrical presentations that reflect his experience as an opera composer. Most of his oratorios use biblical stories put into modern librettos. Influenced by opera, masque, and even Greek tragedy, they were performed by opera singers in theatres (though ecclesiastical prejudice forbade stage action) and have no direct connection with the church. The breadth of Handel’s achievement in the genre has been distorted by the concentration of posterity on such oratorios as Saul and Israel in Egypt (1739), Messiah (1742), and Samson (1743). In these and Handel’s other oratorios, his mastery of characterization and of every type of choral utterance is crowned by a deep and sympathetic pondering of the moral issues involved in the story. Oratorio after 1750 Listen: “Creation, The”: excerpt from “The Creation” Excerpt from the oratorio The Creation (1798) by Joseph Haydn.

After Bach and Handel, oratorio on the European continent, apart from the works of Joseph Haydn , ceased to represent a vital, creative tradition. Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (1798; The Creation ) shows the impact of Handel’s oratorios and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s operas, fusing these epic and dramatic elements with Haydn’s own mature mastery of symphonic style to make the work a masterpiece. Haydn called Die Jahreszeiten (1801; The Seasons ) an oratorio, though its content is secular and its form a loosely articulated series of evocative pieces. Ludwig van Beethoven’s single oratorio, Christus am Ölberg (1803; Christ on the Mount of Olives), does not succeed, nor do most of those occasioned by the 19th-century large halls, choral societies, and festivals, especially in Germany and England. Christianity Quiz Felix Mendelssohn ’s Elijah (1846) is one of the few 19th-century oratorios still performed.

Mendelssohn’s promotion of the revival of Bach’s music and his experience of Handel’s music led him to attempt a fusion of the two styles. Elijah is remarkable for the vitality of the choruses, but Mendelssohn’s earlier oratorio St. Paul (1836) has been criticized as expressing no religious emotion except in terms of respectable complacency . Germany produced little of consequence after Mendelssohn, unless Ein deutsches Requiem ( A German Requiem; 1868), a setting of texts from Martin Luther’s Bible by Johannes Brahms , is classed as an oratorio. The two oratorios of Franz Liszt , Christus (composed 1855–56) and Die Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth ( The Legend of St. Elizabeth; 1873), combine devotional and theatrical elements on the grandest scale. Italian oratorio remained in abeyance after the 18th century, and Slavic composers produced few oratorios. Perhaps the only French oratorio of major importance is L’Enfance du Christ (1854) by Hector Berlioz , a series of theatrical tableaus.

Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest A masterpiece of 20th-century English oratorio is Sir Edward Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius (1900). The poem by Cardinal Newman on which it is based has a dramatic framework within which the music could expand without becoming disorderly. Igor Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927), with a Latin text, was most successful in the opera house. The Swiss Frank Martin was one of the most active oratorio composers in the mid-20th century. A number of large-scale works, generally secular in content, have come out of the Soviet Union and eastern European communist countries and China. An especially notable oratorio is the St. Luke Passion of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki . See also Passion music . More about oratorio oratorio - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) The large-scale musical composition for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra using a sacred or semisacred text is known as an oratorio. It is not intended for use during religious ceremonies, but texts are usually based on scripture.

The narration used to shift the vocal setting from scene to scene is most often sung in recitative, or free declamatory, style. Recitatives are sung by various voices to prepare for solo arias and choruses. The word oratorio comes from the oratory of a church in Rome where St. Philip Neri instituted musical entertainments in the mid-16th century for the reform of the youth of the city. The principal types of oratorio are the Italian, basically a form of religious opera; the German, which developed from treatment of the Passion story; and the English, created by George Frideric Handel as a synthesis of several forms. All three types reached their climax in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach in Germany and Handel in England. Article History The Creation in English by Joseph Haydn - his masterpiece, performed by the MIT choir [HD] - YouTube The Creation in English by Joseph Haydn - his masterpiece, performed by the MIT choir [HD] Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Mar 2, 2014 The Creation (German: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (H. 21/2), and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost. It is scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and a symphonic orchestra [..]. The Creation is written in three parts, whose musical numbers are given below. As in other oratorios, the larger musical numbers (arias and choruses) are often prefaced with a brief recitative; here, the recitative gives the actual words of Genesis, while the following number elaborates the bare Biblical narrative in verse. Haydn was inspired to write a large oratorio during his visits to England in 1791--1792 and 1794--1795, when he heard oratorios of Handel performed by large forces. Israel in Egypt is believed to have been one of these.

It is likely that Haydn wanted to try to achieve results of comparable weight, using the musical language of the mature classical style. The work on the oratorio lasted from October 1796 to April 1798. It was also a profound act of faith for this deeply religious man, who appended the words "Praise to God" at the end of every completed composition. He later remarked, "I was never so devout as when I was at work on The Creation; I fell on my knees each day and begged God to give me the strength to finish the work." Haydn composed much of the work while at his residence in the Mariahilf suburb of Vienna, which is now the Haydnhaus. It was the longest time he had ever spent on a single composition. Explaining this, he wrote, "I spent much time over it because I expect it to last for a long time." In fact, he worked on the project to the point of exhaustion, and collapsed into a period of illness after conducting its premiere performance.

Franz Joseph Haydn (/ˈdʒoʊzəf ˈhaɪdən/; German: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈhaɪdən] ( listen); 31 March 1732 -- 31 May 1809), known as Joseph Haydn, was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms. He was also instrumental in the development of the piano trio and in the evolution of sonata form. A lifelong resident of Austria, Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family on their remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". At the time of his death, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe. Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer, and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor.

He was also a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven. -----------------------------------

Question: Whose oratorio The Creation was composed in the 1790s?
Answer: JOSEPH HAYDN